FRANKFORT, Ky. — The recipients of the 2013 Governor's Awards in the Arts will each receive a handcrafted, turned wooden sculpture by Clark County artist John Keeton when Kentucky presents the state's highest honors in the arts.

The 2013 Governor's award is sculpted of curly maple, hollowed and dyed, and suspended on a satin black holly pedestal, topped with a holly finial.

The Kentucky Arts Council commissions a Kentucky artist to create the awards each year. The 2013 awards will be presented at a public ceremony at 10 a.m. Oct. 29 in the Capitol Rotunda.

"For more than 30 years, Kentucky Governors have chosen to recognize the artists, arts organizations, businesses and other individuals who have contributed to the state's artistic livelihood through these awards," said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. "The public is invited to attend and share in honoring these extraordinary Kentuckians who make the Commonwealth a great place to live."

A former maker of Kentucky long rifles, Keeton has been a woodworker most of his life. His woodworking interests expanded to furniture and eventually to turned wooden sculptures. Intrigued by the classic elements of good form, and particularly with the mathematically based curvatures found in vessels and pottery, much of Keeton's work includes decorative embellishment. Dyes and various finishes on individual pieces draw the eye to the focal element – the form itself.

Keeton is a member of the American Association of Woodturners, a juried exhibiting member of the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen, and a juried participant in the Kentucky Arts Council's Kentucky Crafted Program. His work is exhibited and sold in several galleries throughout central and eastern Kentucky.

The 2013 Governor's Awards in the Arts recipients are:

Milner Award – Oakley B. and Eva G. Farris, Covington

Artist Award – Laura Ross, Prospect

Business Award – The 21c Museum Hotel, Louisville

Community Arts Award – International Bluegrass Music Museum, Owensboro

The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.